WHITINGHAM- A man who police said fired a 12-gauge shotgun twice, striking the driver of a car once, pleaded not guilty to four charges on Wednesday in Windham Superior Court.

Tyson Dix, 39, of Whitingham, pleaded not guilty to two felony assault charges including aggravated assault with a weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two misdemeanors, reckless endangerment and simple assault with a weapon. Dix was released on conditions that he has no contact with the alleged victim, another Whitingham resident, 33-year-old Jonathan Corbosierro, who police say was shot in the left forearm.

At approximately 9:30 pm on July 1, police received two calls from Whitingham, one, a complaint of yelling, a car horn going off, and shots fired, the second, a 911 call from Corbosierro’s mother, saying her son had been shot while at Dix’s residence on Cyrus Road. According to state police detective John Paul Schmidt’s three-page affidavit, Dix admitted to firing the shotgun and said he was well aware that pellets were likely to strike the alleged victim’s car, but that he was trying to scare him and “maybe cause a little damage to the car.”

Accounts of the events that led to the alleged shooting differed greatly in interviews conducted with Corbosierro, Dix, and a woman who was at Dix’s residence, with whom Corbosierro has a child from a previous relationship.

Police interviewed Corbosierro at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, where he was transported by ambulance and was being treated for three wounds to the left forearm and wrist, which Schmidt said looked like gunshot wounds. According to the affidavit, Corbosierro said that he drove to Dix’s house to see the woman to speak about child care arrangements for the next day after she had not responded to several text messages he had sent. Corbosierro said that he hit his horn multiple times, and saw Dix exit his residence with a gun, at which point he began to back out of the driveway. While backing up, Corbosierro, who is deaf, said he saw a muzzle flash from the gun, and after a second shot was fired, his arm which was out the window of his silver Mustang felt “tingly and numb,” and after looking at his arm, found it was wet and bloody. “Corbosierro was adamant he did not say anything to Dix; there was no argument,” according to Schmidt’s affidavit.

Interviews with the woman describe a different series of events before shots were fired. “(The woman) saw Corbosierro in the yard sitting on the hood of his Mustang with a Twisted Tea in his hand,” read the affidavit. “He was looking for money from her.”

According to the woman, when Dix went outside, Corbosierro called him a homophobic slur and drove away, burning out as he left. “Corbosierro drove his car back and forth on the road for 15 or 20 minutes, later he came back and spun doughnuts in the driveway, and was beeping the horn and yelling,” said the woman, who also told police Corbosierro had physically assaulted Dix in the past.

In his interview, Dix said that while at his residence, Corbosierro said something along the lines of “Ticktock, your time is coming.” At approximately 9:30 pm, Dix said he saw headlights in his driveway, and when he looked outside the driver pulled out while yelling and blaring his horn. “Dix went inside and retrieved his Remington pump shotgun. He fired a blast of what he thought was birdshot in the air as a warning,” wrote Schmidt. “The driver of the car continued to yell obscenities, including comments about the gun. Dix fired another blast in the air and then the car drove away.”

Schmidt told Dix he did not fully believe his story after examining the trajectory of the shotgun pellets on Corbosierro’s Mustang.

“His account of shooting ‘over’ the car did not add up with the pellet damage I observed,” wrote Schmidt. “He also said he was specifically trying to scare Corbosierro when he fired. Dix was adamant that the first shot was up in the air, well over the car.” While he originally stated that both shots were fired into the air, Dix admitted the second was fired from the hip, but in the direction of the car, but he still thought he was firing “mostly” over the car.

Dix allowed police to search his residence, and turned in both the shotgun and two spent shotgun shells to police. As part of his conditions of release, Dix is not allowed to possess firearms, and is not allowed to contact the victim in any way.